"AQU" 2007 Obituary

AQUASH o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2007-11-06 published
All-terrain vehicle deaths have doubled across region
Police say the increase in this type of fatality is totally preventable.
By Joe BELANGER, Sun Media, Tues., November 6, 2007
Alcohol, helmets and speed are key factors in six deaths this
year of people riding all-terrain vehicles in Southwestern Ontario.
And a disturbing trend that has seen double the number of all-terrain
vehicle fatalities across the province continued last weekend
when a 28-year-old Howick man was killed after losing control
of the vehicle.
"They're not handling the vehicles properly," said Ontario Provincial
Police Sgt. Dave Rector, media officer for the Southwest Region.
"It's a powerful machine. They're not wearing helmets, they're
mixing alcohol and that's just a recipe for disaster."
At about midnight Sunday, police said, an all-terrain vehicle
driven by James
SCHUMACHER, 28, of Howick, went out of control
on Gorrie Line in Howick Township.
SCHUMACHER was pronounced dead at the scene and a passenger suffered
minor injuries. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.
It was the second all-terrain vehicle-related death in less than
a week.
Jerome Leonard
AQUASH, 24, of Walpole Island was killed and three
others injured early last Thursday when an all-terrain vehicle
crashed into a telephone pole and a tree on Chiefs Road near
Dan Shab Road. Among those injured was a 15-year-old girl who
was airlifted to London Health Sciences Centre in serious condition.
To the end of October, 23 people died in 22 all-terrain vehicle
accidents in Ontario, up 91.7 per cent over 2006 when 12 people
died in 12 all-terrain vehicle incidents over the same period.
There has been a 350 per cent increase in the number of people
killed in Ontario while not wearing a helmet -- nine this year
versus two last year.
Meanwhile, alcohol has been a factor in 13 deaths in 2007, up
225 per cent from four last year.
"In reviewing reports of all-terrain vehicle fatal incidents,
in a majority of cases the driver was going too fast, lost control
and either hit something or the driver was thrown off the vehicle
and it landed on him," said Chief Superintendent Bill
GRODZINSKI,
commander of the Ontario Provincial Police Highway Safety Division.
"All-terrain vehicles can be very dangerous if not driven responsibly,"
he said. "Drinking and driving or not wearing a helmet increases
an operator's chance of having a serious crash considerably."
In one incident, an all-terrain vehicle driver was going too
fast on a private road and lost control on a curve. The driver
was ejected from the vehicle and was hit by a pickup truck.
In another, an inexperienced driver tried to jump a ditch but
hit the edge of it instead and launched the vehicle 29 metres
before it landed on the driver, who had been drinking.
"The increase in this type of fatality is totally preventable,"
GRODZINSKI said. "The Ontario Provincial Police will continue
to maintain a zero tolerance approach to charging all-terrain
vehicle operators who are caught drinking and driving or not
wearing approved helmets."
Aside from fatalities, all-terrain vehicle injuries are also
causing concern. A recent Canadian Institute for Health Information
study concluded the number of hospitalizations related to all-terrain
vehicle accidents increased 25 per cent from 1996-1997 to 2004-2005.
That means, on average, 19 people a day went to emergency departments
in Ontario, a toll that has climbed dramatically in less than
a decade.